This Is Us: Phylicia Rashad cast as Beth’s mother on backstory episode

This Is Us has cast The Cosby Show’s Phylicia Rashad as Susan Kelechi Watson’s mother in upcoming Beth backstory episode.

The Pearsons, both immediate and extended, have their fair share of formidable women in their family and we can look forward to getting to know yet another. Phylicia Rashad, best known as the no-nonsense matriarch Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, has been cast as Beth’s (Susan Kelechi Watson) mother Carol on her upcoming backstory episode. Rashad joins guest star Goran Visnjic in the cast for the much anticipated Beth/Randall origin story.

While Rashad’s legacy as Clair Huxtable lives on, the actress has been exceptionally busy lately, with a recurring role on the FOX drama Empire and appearing as Mary Anne Creed in Sylvester Stallone’s Creed films (Stallone also made a guest appearance on This Is Us).  Rashad, who classically played one of America’s most beloved mothers, seems sought after to continue playing beloved mothers. Will her role on This Is Us give us yet another reason to cry our eyes out? Will she become yet another cherished member of the Pearson family for viewers to connect with? Will she feature in yet another beautiful or tragic story that will bring viewers to their knees? Probably all of the above.

Beth’s origin story episode is planned to be one of three episodes this season focusing on “The Little Three” – Beth, Toby, and Miguel. The series, for obvious reasons, primarily focuses on The Big Three – Kevin, Kate, and Randall – so what we know about The Little Three is mostly in relation or incidental to their stories. If you ask me, its high time we got to know more about them. It is difficult to imagine Beth as anything other than a badass queen of a woman, so it will be interesting to see more about her history and how her mother influences her as a woman.

Source: Entertainment Weekly